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Sunday, March 24, 2013

Calling this recipe cake isn't really fair. Calling this recipe bread isn't really fair either. It is actually similar to both, but with the best parts of each. Light and airy (bread), but sweet and satisfying (cake). Remember when I promised you I'd post other versions of my lemon poppyseed cake? Well, this is actually my original recipe, as I made first made a spicy version, but instead shared the lemon poppyseed recipe with you all before this version, since I hadn't taken proper pictures.

This recipe reminds me of gingerbread, but without all the heavieness or sugar content of a thick cake, as this is more light and airy; something that you can eat everyday. It's great by itself for a snack, or on the side of a salad for paleo/primal friendly treat. I like to make this on the weekend and slowly eat the pan down over the next two weeks. This would free great too!

To make your lovely simple spice cake:
1. Place coconut oil and warm water in a medium sized bowl, whisk
vigorously for about 2 minutes or until white, glossy and homogenous
(and no longer clumpy).
2. To the same bowl, add flour, and remaining ingredients. Whisk until incorporated.
3. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan (I used coconut oil), and bake at 350 degrees non-convection for exactly 20 minutes.
4. Pull pan from the oven and place on a baking rack to cool. Transfer
to the fridge to cool some more. Cut into squares when cool, and spread
with your favorite filling. I used grass-fed butter! Yum! Tahini, peanut or
cashew butter would go nicely with these too.

Other spices like cardamom and allspice would be great in this cake too! Use your favorite warm spice combination :)

Sunday, March 3, 2013

I am finding that I have very little time for cooking now that I am in medical school, and I've been searching for easier and easier ways of eating home cooked real food that doesn't take a lot of time, or create a lot of dishes, which I will inevitably have to do myself.

One evening as an experiment (and since I was short on time), I took some grass-fed ground beef which I had defrosted, stuffed it into a mini muffin tin, and baked it. Turns out my experiment worked very well, and I decided to do it on a larger scale. This time I used a normal sized muffin tin and cracked an egg on top - a definite success!

This is the what the underside looks like :)

This recipe is so easy because all you have to do is take your meat of
choice, section it into a muffin tin, press down and bake! In less than a
half hour you have easy bites of protein which can be conveniently topped on
a salad, warmed with a side of veggies, or eaten quick and on the go. I seasoned mine with only a little bit of salt, but feel free to sprinkle on top whatever spice you fancy. Cheese and ketchup were my other experiments, which turned out great too! Please note - do not grease the muffin tins, there is enough fat in the meat and there will be no sticking. The meat actually shrinks away from the sides and will look like it's "swimming" in fat when you take them out of the oven. I really like this because you can so easily lift out each little bite / piece and place on a paper towel, and then discard (or save) the meat fat / tallow that has rendered out of the meat!

To make your protein bites:
1. Evenly section out beef between the holes of a normal sized muffin pan.
2. Press down with your fingers. Add optional spices or cheese.
3. Crack an egg on top. Sprinkle each with unrefined sea salt
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees (don't believe mine is convection), for 25-30 minutes. Bites will be ready when eggs are cooked through. Remove from oven and promptly grab bites out of the tin with tongs, placing then on a paper towel drain. When cool, store in a glass container in the fridge for grabbing whenever you need some protein :) ENJOY!

Even though this idea is quite simple, they taste so good. It would be possible to make this with ground chicken, turkey or bison, but I would suggest greasing the sides of each muffin cup with olive oil first; these meats have very low fat content and therefore may stick.

I hope you find these a useful addition to your food plans for busy weeks :)

About Me

Welcome to my blog!
I'm a third-year medical student studying Naturopathic medicine, an athlete, foodie, and scientist with a BS in Human Biology. My passions are helping people, medicine, science, nutrition, healthy living, fitness and real food. Here you will find delicious recipes I create in my own kitchen, with a focus on nutrient dense and grain-free, lower-carb, low-sugar eating. My daily life is stressful, but each day I consciously choose to live my life for His glory. Thanks for stopping by!